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SARATOGA GAMING AND RACEWAY
Saratoga Springs Commissioner of Public Works Tom McTygue will suffer through a nervous Wednesday as he waits out the hours until his colt Algiers Hall competes at Saratoga Gaming and Raceway in the third race.
The 3-year-old Conway Hall colt he owns with Carlyle and David Smith and trainer John Stark Jr. will start in a $38,835 division of the New York Sire Stakes on July 12.
McTygue will have a special rooting section in New York State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and his family, who will be attending the evening's events.
"He really enjoys the racing and the Sire Stakes so he will be out for a night of exciting harness racing," explained McTygue of Senator Bruno. "There are so many positive changes since the VLTs and he appreciates the sport."
McTygue will also be hoping for some positive changes in Algiers Hall, who has broken stride this season at all the wrong times: at the start of his Dexter Cup elimination at Freehold, as the favorite in the final of the $252,000 Goodtimes Stakes at Woodbine, and in the first leg of the Sire Stakes at Buffalo Raceway.
But in a qualifier at Saratoga on June 30, Algiers Hall demonstrated his talent by circling the oval in 1:55.3—a time that surpassed the all-time trotting track record of 1:58 set by two-time Horse of the Year Mac Lobell and Hall of Fame driver John Campbell in 1988.
Despite the colt's mishaps when big money has been on the line, McTygue and trainer Stark are now confident that Algiers Hall can race with the best in the country.
"He's a little high strung," revealed Stark. "He's got a lot of quick speed and he's very strong and it's hard to settle him down going into the first turn (on a half-mile track). I think I'll get him around Saratoga and then take him to the Meadowlands for the Hambletonian."
Stark believes the colt will be able to stretch out on New Jersey's mile track, which will host the Hambletonian eliminations on July 29 and the $1.5 million final on August 5.
The colt is expected to finish out the New York Sire Stakes season and then has a bevy of rich stakes at the end of the year. He is eligible to the Kentucky Futurity and Yonkers Trot--which with the Hambletonian make up the Triple Crown--the Zweig Memorial Trot, the Bluegrass Stakes, Matron and Breeders Crown.
"He's a good eater and a big strong horse, so I don't think he'll have any trouble with his schedule this year," said Stark of the rigorous stakes engagements.
McTygue revealed that early in the season the ownership group received some opportunities to sell the colt but opted to keep him.
"I think this is what people in this industry dream about—having a horse like this that can be a contender in the big events," McTygue said. "I didn't want to miss that excitement."
Stark has had experience with catapulting a top New York Sire Stakes competitor into the national spotlight, as he did with $2.8 million and multiple stakes winner Bunny Lake.
Six divisions of the New York Sire Stakes for 3-year-old trotting colts will be contested for a total of $235,810 in purses on Wednesday. The Sire Stakes are featured as races two, three, five, seven, eight and nine on the 13-race program. Post time is 7:20 p.m.
New York Sire Stakes racing will continue at Saratoga Gaming and Raceway on Saturday evening when the 3-year-old pacing colts take the stage. A T-shirt will be given away to the first 2,500 racing fans on Saturday night.
Courtesy Of M. Kelly Young, Executive Assistant, Harness Horse Breeders of New York State
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